Multiple-vehicle collision


A multiple vehicle collision is a road traffic collision involving many vehicles. Generally occurring on high-capacity and high-speed routes such as freeways, they are one of the deadliest forms of traffic collisions. The most disastrous pile-ups have involved more than a hundred vehicles.

Causes

Pile-ups generally occur in low-visibility conditions as drivers on freeways are sometimes caught out by driving too close to the vehicle in front and not adjusting to the road conditions.
Chain-reaction crashes can also occur in conditions of good visibility, when black ice or other road hazards are encountered unexpectedly as drivers round a curve or crest a hill.
Another possibility is a third vehicle is simply too close to the initial collision to avoid hitting one or both of the vehicles. Due to the high traffic speeds on the road, if one car develops a problem and suddenly halts, those behind it cannot stop in time and may hit it. Considering that these roads often have high traffic volumes, more cars are forced into braking and skidding, darting into other lanes and in front of oncoming traffic and so more vehicles become involved, creating a chain reaction effect.
Determining the cause of such collisions is difficult for investigators and it is often impossible to tell if negligence caused the crash. In spite of their frequency, little formal research has been done in the United States regarding their cause or causes.

Effects

Multiple-vehicle collisions are particularly deadly as the mass of crumpled vehicles makes escape for survivors difficult. Even if survivors are able to exit their vehicles, other cars may strike them. Individual vehicles in a multiple-vehicle collision are often hit multiple times at high speed, increasing the risk of injury to passengers who may have survived the first impact with the benefit of now-discharged protective airbags. Collisions after the initial collision may occur from the side of the vehicle, where the passenger compartment is more vulnerable.
A fire in one part of the collision can quickly spread via spilled gasoline and cover the entire crash area. Multiple-vehicle collisions can also overwhelm local firefighting, ambulance, and police services making speedy rescues more difficult. If the collision takes place in a remote area, getting medical help to the scene can be a daunting task.
The destruction and intense heat of fires can also damage roadways, particularly by melting and burning the asphalt or spalling concrete surfaces. The structural steel of bridges and overpasses can also be weakened by the heat. A fiery pileup inside a tunnel is the most serious, as there is little means to escape the poisonous fumes, and the confined heat may damage structural supports.
The large scale of these collisions can close important highway routes for several days, or even longer if highway support structures are damaged.

Major pileups

DateKilledInjuredVehiclesDetails
31 October 1965028100+A fog bank settles over the Santa Ana Freeway and causes a chain reaction collision involving more than 100 cars and both directions of travel. The crash causes 28 injuries. Two more separate chain collisions involving an additional 50 cars occur on the Harbor Freeway the same day.
29 November 197174270On the M1 just north of the A505 junction near Luton, United Kingdom, due to fog. Fog warning lights, switched on on the advice of motorway patrols, were not active at the time of the pileup. 26 miles of the M1 motorway were closed for several hours in both directions.
12 03 199033052Interstate 43 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, on the Tower Drive Bridge over the Fox River, due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 52 vehicles; 3 deaths and more than 30 injuries. A fog warning system was immediately installed, and bridge lighting was installed in the mid 2000s, after more fog related issues.
11 12 1990124299Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Tennessee, United States, between Chattanooga and Knoxville near the Hiwassee River, due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 99 vehicles; 12 deaths and 42 injuries. The fog was caused by the neighboring Bowater paper mill, that paid out more than $10M in settlements. A fog warning system has since been installed, and the highway patrol enforces speed limits aggressively.
13 3 1991105151M4 in Hungerford, Berkshire, United Kingdom, between Membury and Hungerford due to very heavy fog; fiery crash involved 51 vehicles; 10 deaths. A van driver either fell asleep or swerved to miss a pigeon, in the outside lane. Huge pile-up ensued.
164150A15 Motorway near Ochten, Netherlands, due to fog, 150 vehicles, 1 death, 64 injuries.
29 11 199117114104Interstate 5 in Coalinga, California, due to a dust storm, 104 vehicles, 17 deaths, 114 injuries.
2dozens60Interstate 64 in Virginia near Afton Mountain, due to fog, 60 vehicles, 2 deaths, dozens injured.
2 12 199467127Interstate 35 in San Antonio, Texas, United States, 127 car pile-up caused by blinding glare and rain-slicked roads, 67 injuries.
20 3 1995190200Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, United States, due to fog, 200 vehicles, 1 death, 90 injuries.
27 2 19961080200E17 motorway near Nazareth, Belgium, due to fog.
10 3 1997360160M42 motorway in the United Kingdom, due to fog – 160 vehicles involved, 3 deaths, 60 injuries.
31 12 1998139114114 cars crashed during whiteout conditions and a snow-slicked section of N/B Interstate-75 in central Michigan, just north of Grayling, killing one and injuring 39.
3 9 199983387Highway 401 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, just east of Windsor. Very dense fog and tailgating causes an 87-vehicle pile-up, killing 8, and injuring 33 more.
22 11 199922983Interstate 70 in Golden, Colorado, United States, when a car spun out in the westbound lanes in heavy snow and fog, then was hit by other vehicles as it attempted to resume westbound travel.
131Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, United States, 131 vehicles plus two others nearby totaling 80 more, due to a snowstorm whiteout.
14 439125Interstate 75 in Catoosa County, Georgia, United States, due to one-time sudden fog, about 125 vehicles
11 10 2002103650Interstate 43 in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, just north of the Ozaukee-Sheboygan county line. Involved 50 vehicles due to dense fog. Considered the worst multiple-vehicle collision in Wisconsin history.
3 11 2002041216Interstate 710 in Los Angeles County, California, United States, around 200 vehicles, due to dense fog.
7 2 200314780Interstate 94 in Berrien County, Michigan, United States, 80 vehicles, due to lake-effect snow.
23 5 200326490Interstate 68 in Garrett County, Maryland, United States, approximately 90 vehicles involved in accident near the I-68 cut on Big Savage Mountain. Heavy fog was blamed for the collision.
6 1 200461750Interstate 80 in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States, around 50 vehicles, due to poor visibility during a white out snow squall, leaving 6 dead and 17 injured.
12 1 2005235200Interstate 96 in Ingham County, Michigan, United States, around 200 vehicles, due to dense fog leaving 2 dead and 35 injured.
17 February 200651538Highway 417 in Embrum, Ontario, approximately 38 vehicles collided due to reduced visibility and snow squall conditions, killing 5 and injuring 15.
5 11 20072dozens108Highway 99 south of Fresno, California, United States, due to the tule fog that occurs frequently in fall and winter; involved 108 vehicles, killed at least 2 and injured dozens of others.
6 1 20082100Two people are killed as 100 cars pile up on Interstate 90 near Madison, Wisconsin.
9 1 200843870Four people were killed and as many as 38 injured in a major pileup on Interstate 4 in north central Florida involving 70 vehicles, as fog mixed with smoke from a controlled fire that reached out-of-control proportions combined to make it almost impossible for motorists to see.
20 1 2008100More than 100 vehicles crashed into each other on Highway 400 near Toronto due to bad weather conditions.
11 3 2008327760Around 6.39 am UAE time a series of vehicle crashes occurred, involving cars, SUVs, buses and trucks, because of heavy fog on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway near Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, leading to the worst ever crash and multi-vehicle pileup in the country's history. According to Dubai-based Gulf News and Reuters, the incident killed 3 people and injured 277, involving 60 vehicles from which 25 caught fire according to Abu Dhabi Police.
20 3 2008033231231 vehicles crashed at highway D1 in Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. About 30 people were injured, 3 of them seriously. Nobody was killed.
25 3 20081660A near 60 vehicle pile-up in heavy snow on Austria's main east–west highway causes one death with six injuries.
11 1 200950+"More than 50 cars..." in Derry, New Hampshire
19 7 2009Dozens259Dozens of people injured, 10 critically, when 259 vehicles were involved in a pile-up due to heavy rain on the German Autobahn A2 near Braunschweig in Lower Saxony.
13 12 2009525656 cars involved in a pile-up on Route 110 in Shelton, Connecticut due to freezing rain and black ice resulting in 46 injuries and six hospitalizations, but no deaths or life-threatening injuries.
23 12 20093643M27 motorway 20 vehicles involved in a pile up westbound at Rownhams services and another 23 eastbound between J7 for Hedge End and Botley and J8 for Bursledon and Netley due to severe black ice, freezing fog and deep snow. 36 people injured.
10 2 2010750Near Williamsburg, Virginia, whiteout conditions during the morning around 9:00 am EST 10 February led to a fifty-car pileup on a stretch of westbound I-64. The collision took hours to clear, and seven people suffered minor injuries requiring hospitalization.
14 2 201013140In the Kansas City area, several pileups involving 140 vehicles, including two Greyhound buses were caused by whiteout conditions. The largest pileup, involving 40 vehicles along I-70 and K-7 near the city of Bonner Springs, Kansas. No fatalities or critical injuries were reported. The collision closed I-70 for several hours so emergency workers and crews could clean up the area. The same day, also in the Kansas City metro area, a separate pileup caused by whiteout conditions, involving at least 20 vehicles closed parts of I-35 near 87th Street. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported there as well. The collision sent 13 people to area hospitals.
16 11 201021675Interstate 77 in Carroll County, Virginia-Virginia State Police determined that a total of 75 vehicles were involved in crashes in both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-77 between the 4 and 7 mile markers in the area of Fancy Gap, Virginia. Heavy fog resulting in zero visibility was determined to be the cause of the collisions.
8 4 201187480+An 80-car pileup occurs during a sandstorm on Autobahn 19 near Rostock, Germany. 8 deaths and 74 injured people.
15 9 2011149300Rodovia dos Imigrantes at São Paulo, Brazil. around 300 vehicles involved in a collision due to heavy fog. Several injuries and one person dead.
1 12 2011116–18176Tennessee State Route 386 and Saundersville Road near Hendersonville in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, north of Nashville, due to "heavy, heavy fog"; three separate chain-reaction crashes involving 176 vehicles; 1 death and 16–18 injuries. A fog advisory was not in effect for the area at the time of the crashes.
3 12 2011114134Istanbul Trans European Motorway 134 cars involved with 1 dead, 14 injured, due to heavy fog and slippery road.
5 12 201101014In the Chugoku expressway in Shimonoseki, Japan. It is believed that this pileup is one of the most expensive pileups, having 8 Ferraris, 3 Mercedes-Benz, a Lamborghini, and 2 Toyota Prius being involved in the crash. The slippery road is blamed as the cause of the pileup, and injured 10 people.
29 12 201125940I-10 in New Orleans, Louisiana; About 40 vehicles involved with at least 50 injuries, due to heavy fog and smoke from a nearby ongoing marsh fire in New Orleans East.
3 2 2012040+100+European route E75 Helsinki, Finland more than 100 cars involved with more than 40 injured, due to heavy snow and slippery road.
5 10 201205247Interstate I-75 Southbound Sarasota/Manatee County line, Florida. On University Blvd. overpass 47 vehicles in 12 separate crashes, due to white-out rain.
22 11 20122100100+Interstate I-10 – Both directions – Jefferson County line, Texas. 150-vehicle pileup on foggy Texas highway leaves 2 dead, 100 hurt.
15 1 201314680European route E4 Klippan. On Tranarp bridge. One person died and more than 40 were injured on the E4 motorway near Helsingborg, southwestern Sweden, after up to 80 vehicles crashed into one another due to dense fog and slippery road conditions.
21 1 2013127103Interstate 275 – Cincinnati, Ohio. Flash snowburst caused a large pileup with many injuries. A 12-year-old girl was killed.
21 1 20130952Interstate 75 – Middletown, Ohio. Flash snowburst caused a large pileup. Same storm as Cincinnati 103-vehicle collision that killed a 12-year-old girl.
25 1 20130580Highway 401 east of Oshawa – Ontario, Canada.
31 1 2013320+35+Interstate 75 - Detroit, Michigan. Flash snowburst caused a pile-up along an urbanized section of Interstate 75 in Detroit, killing a 46-year-old Allen Park man, and two children from nearby Windsor, Ontario.
31 3 201332595Interstate 77 in Carroll County, Virginia approximately 95 vehicles were involved in a collision on the southbound lane of I-77 near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain near Fancy Gap, Virginia. Virginia State Police say that excessive fog could be to blame for the collision. Three people were killed.
5 9 2013060130+60 people were injured as more than 130 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes in thick fog on the A249 Sheppey crossing in Kent, UK.
3 12 2013267132One person was killed and 67 injured as 132 vehicles were involved in a triple chain collision in thick fog on the A19 in Zonnebeke, Belgium. A second person died four days later.
23 1 2014320+~46Interstate 94 in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, more than 40 vehicles, due to lake-effect snow.
14 2 2014030100Up to 105 vehicles were involved in multiple collisions on the eastbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Willow Grove and Bensalem. One collision involved about 75 vehicles while another incident further east involved about 30 vehicles. There were a total of 30 injuries. The collisions were a result of icy conditions from a winter storm.
27 2 2014096Ontario Highway 400 south of Barrie, 96 vehicles were involved in collisions at about 9am during a snow squall, reducing visibility to "a few feet". The incident resulted in the closure of Highway 400 between Highway 89 and Mapleview Drive. Both lanes on that stretch of highway were closed for most of the day until early evening.
1 3 2014130104Interstate 25 in Denver, Colorado, United States, 104 vehicles, due to heavy snow.
12 3 20143"numerous"90Ninety vehicles between two crashes on the Ohio Turnpike in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States, due to heavy snow.
14 10 201445447A 47 vehicle pileup occurs during morning traffic N12 Freeway near Alberton, South Africa. 4 people confirmed dead and 9 people critically injured.
9 1 2015123193Nearly 200 vehicles, including 76 semi trucks, were involved in a pileup on Interstate 94 near Galesburg, Michigan, amidst a heavy snowstorm that brought nearly a foot of snow to the area. One of the trucks was carrying a load of fireworks, which caught fire and exploded, injuring two firefighters. The only fatality was a 57-year-old truck driver from Quebec, Canada.
18 1 20151306060-car pileup on Interstate 76 in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania due to icy roads. 1 man was killed when he got out of his car after the collision and was hit by another car. 30 more people were injured.
11 2 2015265106106-car pileup on Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon, South Korea. 2 men died and more than 65 people were injured. The event was caught on tape from a vehicle's dashcam.
25 2 20150177575-car pileup on Interstate 95 in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. This was noted as possibly Maine's largest single traffic collision.
30 January 201643070+55-car pileup on A1 motorway near the Senožeče, Slovenia. 5 men died and more than 30 people were injured.
22 2 2016056060 cars in pileup on E39 near Bergen, Norway. Unforeseen extremely slippery roads in the morning rush hours took motorists by surprise.
13 3 2016020130At least 130 cars piled up on Interstate 85/Interstate 40 in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. The crash is thought to be a result of slippery roads caused by thunderstorms in the area at the time.
22 November 2016173756The crash happened on an icy road in North China's province of Shanxi.
8 December 201602050A 50-Vehicle pileup on Interstate 90 in Concord Township, Ohio on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio at mile marker 202.3 happened as a result of overnight heavy lake-effect snow. It seems to have had 15 semi trucks and 35 cars involved.
5 February 20181550–70Icy conditions lead to a pileup on Interstate 35 near Ames, Iowa, of which at least 15 semi trucks and 35 cars were involved. One fatality and five critically injured people were reported.
15 2 20191047A 47-vehicle pileup occurred on Interstate 70 near Oak Grove, Missouri, due to icy roads and white-out conditions. One fatality was reported.
24 2 20191144131White-out conditions and winds in excess of 50 mph contributed to a 131 vehicle pileup on Interstate 41 near Neenah, Wisconsin. The crash results in 1 dead and 71 injured.
5 March 2019025~100White-out conditions and icy roads caused a 90 to 100 car pileup on Route 8 northbound in Hudson, Ohio.
23 March 201911250Fog visibility of 100 feet, Southbound side of Interstate 5 South of the Grapevine at Gorman School Road. A toddler passed away days later.
25 April 20194728A semi driver slammed into rush hour traffic, starting a pile up and massive fire that killed 4 people and injured 7 others, in Lakewood, Colorado.
22 December 201905169Near Williamsburg, Virginia, 69 vehicles collided in foggy conditions on Interstate 64 on the westbound portion of Queens Creek Bridge.
1 March 2020330120Near Wamsutter, Wyoming, over 100 vehicles collided in near-zero visibility conditions while semi-trailers toppled over in high winds. Vehicles were unable to stop as there was also black ice on Interstate 80 on both sides of the highway, westbound and eastbound portions between Rawlins and Wamsutter. People report being stuck on the highway for over nine hours before emergency teams were able to clear the roadway.

Motorsports

Multiple vehicle collisions can occur in the restricted courses used in motorsports as well, most commonly after a green flag being waved following a warm-up lap during the start of the race. Reporters and fans apply subjective guidelines as to what threshold needs to be crossed before a simple on-track incident can be described as such. NASCAR fans, for example, talk about the "Big One", where many cars can be or are involved in a wreck while running close together.